Last week Wednesday being the 18th of October, at the age of 86, Cardinal Ricardo J. Vidal, the archbishop emeritus of Cebu breathed his last. Prior to his death as at 11th October, he was recovering from an infection at the hospital of Our Lady of Perpetual Help in Cebu city.
Deeply in pain as regards the reception of the sad news, Pope Francis in a message of condolence to the successor of the cardinal, archbishop Jose S. Palma; expresses «profound gratitude for the late Cardinal’s untiring and devoted service to the Church, and for his constant advocacy of dialogue and peace for all the people in the Philippines, I commend his soul to the infinite love and mercy of our heavenly Father».
Cardinal Vidal was born on 6th February 1931 in the city of Mogpoc, located in the province of Marinduque and in the current diocese of Boac (so in the diocese of Lucena). He was ordained a priest on 17th March 1956. And short time after his ordination assumed the function of a spiritual director in the local seminary, a place dedicated for the formation of candidates for the priesthood till 1971, when he received episcopal ordination. After some years in the Episcopal See of Lipa in Batangas; in 1981, he was nominated coadjutor with the right of succession to the archbishop of Cebu, Cardinal Julio Rosales. He finally succeeded him on 24th August, 1982.
Right from the beginning of our college in 1991, cardinal Vidal sent seminarians of the archdiocese of Cebu to Sedes Sapientiae. In his frequent visits to our college, he has never failed to show appreciation for the formation being given to the seminarians. The family of Sedes Sapientiae prays for the eternal repose of his soul and unites in the pain of the Church of Cebu, that cries for the passing of a good and faithful shepherd that served with great dedication and love for the church.